Left Handed Kisses
by StarryEyedSpacegirl
Summary: A MacCreadyxF!SS romance inspired by "Left Handed Kisses" by Andrew Bird and Fiona Apple. When MacCready finally works up enough liquid courage to tell Nora how he feels, he quickly learns that it'll take more than a few fifty-cent words to prove his love to her. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
1. Chapter 1

"You know I don't believe anything happens for a reason, so I can't really figure out what's wrong with me. I mean, I'm not exactly the romantic sort. Never have been, even with Lucy. Now look at me! She's got me writing love songs."

"Is this really the time to be talking about this MacCready?" Piper grunted, hefting all her weight against the door that was barely keeping the synths at bay.

"Just let that thought sink in for a bit," MacCready continued, jamming a chair under the doorknob and releasing a clip into the gen3 synth face that had dared peek through the hole in the door, "Me. I'm writing love songs."

"What are you talking about?" Piper huffed as they beat a hasty retreat down the hall. She launched herself over the dilapidated handrail and onto the back of an unsuspecting institute lackey, firing a single shot into its cranium. It collapsed underneath her and she raised her pistol into guard position.

MacCready was making his way down the steps with a recently stolen laser pistol hanging loosely in his hands.

"Behind you Romeo."

He dispatched the half-functioning synth with a lazy pull of the trigger. "I mean. It's crazy, really. She makes me feel things I've never felt before."

"Are you talking about that shit you scribbled on my notepad last night?" Piper scoffed. "That wasn't a love song Mac, even Strong could come up with something better than that drivel. If you're going to impress Nora, you're going to have to come up with more than some cheap lines comparing her the blast of a radium bomb."

"Well I know it's not Shakespeare-"

"It's not even Dr. Seuss." Piper didn't bother to hide her grin as MacCready looked butthurt. "But hey, if you keep trying, maybe she won't feel like you're throwing away words just to convince her to sleep with you."

"I'm not trying to-" he unholstered his sniper rifle and fired a few shots over her shoulder with practiced ease.

Piper could hear the rounds hiss as they passed her head, waiting until MacCready slung the rifle back over his shoulder before turning to observe the pile of sparking machinery only a few steps behind her. Footsteps several floors above prompted them to keep moving towards the exit, MacCready jogging to match Piper's pace.

"I think I might actually love her."

"You're going to need a little bit more than 'think' to convince Nora. But keep at your half-baked lyrics and you might finally come up with something good. She won't buy it though."

"Why not?" He grunted as he body slammed a broken door and they crashed into the open air.

"Besides the fact that she's a skeptic? You flirt with every female you see. I'm sure you can imagine how your 'star-crossed lover' shpiel will look to her after all the times she's seen you goggling Magnolia in that red getup."

"Alright alright, point taken." He answered sullenly, taking out a knife and stabbing a bloatfly to the side of the building.

"She's not your typical waste woman," Piper wiped at a fleck of goo on her coat and searched for an escape route, "Blue's a real broad. She won't accept anything unless she feels she can absolutely trust you."

MacCready was silent as they hiked across the Commonwealth, back towards Sanctuary. Nora was expecting them in less than a few hours, and she wasn't one to be kept waiting. He wiped at a bead of sweat, mind buzzing. Piper was right, Nora would take one look at his sorry attempts at wooing and laugh.

And he probably would deserve it.

"Well I can't give up now," MacCready said with resolve, "I think I really do love her!"

"Alright Mac, but don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

It was dusk at Sanctuary, and most of the settlers were happily settling inside their half rotted homes after a long day of work. Nora was sitting in a lawn chair above the recently constructed meeting house, sipping a quantum nuka-cola and contemplating the irony of life. Before the bombs fell she'd never have been caught dead holding a glass of nuka-cola, but now it was one of her go-to's. The pop and fizz got her pulse racing, infecting her system with a heady buzz.

"You really shouldn't drink those before bed boss, they can really get your gears turning."

Nora didn't bother to greet MacCready as he flipped open a lawn chair of his own and dropped his slim frame next to hers. Of all her friends, MacCready was always the first to open a conversation with annoying advice.

"I once downed a bottle before an overnight job, and I ran for two days straight. Literally couldn't keep my feet still. I almost messed up the job since I couldn't settle down long enough to take the shot."

She shrugged and took another sip. "It's not like I'm chugging it. Besides, I like the way it feels."

"Like a teenage hormone overdose?"

"Like I'm invincible."

"You already are invincible boss. I'd have thought you realized that by now."

Nora turned with eyebrows raised to look at MacCready, who had a beer dangling in his left hand. "Wow Creed, I didn't realize you harbored those kinds of feelings for me."

She felt him stiffen beside her.

She took another swig. "I'd expect Danse or Curie to idolize me, but you? High praise from a fellow asshole."

It was a common joke they often shared in order to dispel tense situations, and MacCready released a hollow laugh. He'd hoped to charm her with his compliments, but apparently that tact was not going to work tonight.

Unfortunately it was now or never. Him and Piper had made a bet that he would tell Nora how he felt tonight, or else he owed Piper a debt, and nobody wanted to owe Piper a debt. She wanted them paid back in the most humiliating ways imaginable, and he didn't plan on subjecting himself to that anytime soon.

He took a hasty swig of his beer, accidentally catching Piper's eye underneath a nearby awning. She raised her eyebrow at him, tapping her watch, and he scowled.

"So, how'd things go with Piper today? Sounds like you ran into a bit of trouble."

"Piper? Oh yeah, sure, some of your Institute lackeys showed up and we were forced to send them back to cyber-hell, but it all turned out alright."

"You guys seem like a good team."

"Sure. But we don't get into nearly the same amount of trouble that you and I do boss."

She chuckled. "That's because we spend way too much time arguing."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Is that two compliments in one night?"

He mumbled something that Nora couldn't catch before tipping his bottle back and draining half the bottle.

"Woah there Creed, you alright? You're acting kind of funny."

His cheeks were flushed, although whether it was from the beer or the tint of the sunset she couldn't tell. "Me? Na, I'm perfectly fine. Never better."

She watched him suspiciously as he pulled another bottle from a side pocket and immediately took a drink.

Something was definitely off.

Now that she thought about it, he'd been acting funny for the last few nights. He'd been sneaking looks and sticking close whenever they went into town. Then he'd smiled-actually smiled not grimaced- at her when she asked him to help her with this mission.

"What's going on Robert."

"Gah, she's calling me Robert." He muttered. "I love it when she calls me Robert."

Now it was Nora's time to turn pink, although she knew it was probably the beer that was talking and not MacCready. She leaned over to pluck the beer out of his hand. "Maybe that's enough for you for one night..."

He let her tug the bottle free, but not before sighing deeply. "And you always smell nice. How do you do it? We live in the fu- freaking Commonwealth for heaven's sake. You smell like... it's almost like..."

"Soap."

He snapped his fingers. "It's nice on you."

"What the hell is going on MacCready?" Nora asked, getting increasingly alarmed by MacCready's abnormal behavior. Either he was very drunk and was confusing her with someone else, or-

"I think I love you." He blurted out.

Someone nearby attempted to cover a laugh as Nora's mouth fell open.

"I really mean it," He continued earnestly, "I haven't felt this way about a girl since my Lucy."

"You said that the last time we had a few drinks at the Third Rail."

His cheeks were definitely red now. "I didn't mean it. I mean I was was drunk, alright? Any girl looks good when I'm drunk, but you gotta admit that Magnolia's a good looking gal. She's got hips that can make a grown man cry-"

He quailed as her eyes sparked, and he bolted to his feet as she rose to hers.

"What I mean is that she's not you! She's not you Nora, and she could never be you. You're special. You're beautiful and smart and can kick more ass than any man I've ever met, including me."

The glare wasn't gone, but it had softened a little.

He released a pent up breath and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I like running around with you. Sure we fight, but that just means that we respect each other enough to disagree sometimes. Please boss... Nora. I'm not a romantic. I don't believe in fate, but I think this... us... is as close as it gets to perfect."

There were a couple of tense seconds as he stared down at the ground, hoping beyond hope that his sorry excuse for a love confession would somehow be accepted.

When she spoke, her voice was a hard as granite. "I'm sorry Creed, but it'll take a lot more than tossing a few drunken compliments to get me to believe you love me."

She stepped around him, and he let her. He should have realized it wouldn't be enough, but he was buzzed and living on desperation. It was like an itch that demanded to be scratched. But he wasn't about to quit now. Just because she didn't believe him didn't mean he should stop trying. What he needed now was a way to prove himself.

He stood there for a few seconds, then turned and slowly made his way off the roof.

"Well, looks like you're in my debt lover boy."

He looked at Piper, and her small smile sparked his ire. "What do you think about double or nothing?"

"You trying to get out of your debt Mac?"

"Give me a week. One week to convince her I love her, and if at the end of a week I fail..." He swallowed hard. "I'll go with you on that trip to the Glowing Sea to interview Doc Virgil."

She didn't even blink. "Deal."

As he shook Piper's hand, he felt his resolve momentarily slip. He had one week to work up the nerve to tell her again, and if he didn't he might just end up as a snack for some glowing radscorpian in the Glowing Sea.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't mean to be a nag, but isn't your house in Diamond City filled with duct tape?"

Nora rolled her eyes, ignoring MacCready as she stuffed the roll she'd just found into her pack.

"Right you are boss, you never know when you'll need a spare so you can uh... incapacitate up some Raiders."

"Incapacitate my friends more like." She muttered.

"I'm sorry, did you just admit to wanting to tie me up with duct tape?"

"Don't get excited, I just meant I was going to use it to tape your mouth shut if you don't learn how to shut it yourself."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try."

"Is that a challenge?"

"More like an invitation."

He flashed her a roguish grin, and she was hard pressed to keep her mouth from twitching in response.

It had been four days since his half-drunken confession, and yet he had recovered from her rejection at an alarming rate. As a matter of fact, he was much more sure of himself than usual. He was quick with a quip, more reliable with his gun, and an unforgivable flirt. He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't a romantic, however. For all his finer points, the guy was nowhere near gentlemanly on the ranking scale, if she chose to rank him at all. He was more likely to be on the lovable asshole scale. But she could admit he had a charm of his own. He was well built and athletic, with twinkling eyes and cheekbones you could cut yourself on. He also had a strange ability to provide wise council, even if it was delivered with a cocksure grin.

"What, is there something on my face?"

She shrugged and looked away. She hadn't realized she'd been staring.

But she'd been doing a lot more of that lately.

She wandered farther up the car choked road, eyeing the houses and the rubble. This was supposed to be a simple salvage op for Sanctuary, find some supplies to stock the place as more people settled in. She had wanted to go alone, get some time to think, but MacCready had volunteered to go with her.

Said it was his job to watch her back and make sure she didn't get herself killed.

_"When have I ever almost gotten killed?" She scoffed, slinging the empty pack over her shoulder and striding out into the woods._

_"Should I mention the incidents in chronological order, or alphabetical?" MacCready snarked._

_"How about you let the Savior of the Commonwealth go do her job without any distractions?"_

_"So you admit that I'm a distraction?"_

_"Only because you never shut up."_

_"Well I wouldn't want you to forget that I'm here."_

As if that had ever been an issue. The man knew how to draw attention to himself without even trying.

"Hold up."

"Hm?" She just happened to catch sight of a familiar yellow box shoved into the cab of a nearby car, and immediately started towards it.

"Stand still a second will ya?"

"Hold on I just have to-"

"I said shut up and stop moving!" He hissed. "I think I hear something."

She paused, one hand poised to unlatch the clasp. For several seconds there was nothing but silence, but then she heard it.

"Suicide mutant." MacCready spat.

Nora's chest tightened as she drew her pistol and carefully scanned the streets for the source. Before she could finish her scan there was an inhuman roar, and she whirled around to discover the mutant lumbering towards her from between several houses, sledgehammer held high and a red blinking light on its chest. Instinct immediately set in and she let loose a barrage of bullets, trying to detonate the nuke. Dread hit her like a freight train as the dull click of an empty chamber reached her ears, and she stumbled backwards as she fumbled to grab a new clip from her belt.

"Nora, get down!"

Without a second thought she dropped like a stone, flinching as she landed on a pile of scrap metal. "Damn!"

Shotgun blasts echoed through the empty houses.

"This way you big green bastard!"

"I will kill you puny human!"

She raised her head, catching sight of MacCready running full tilt in the opposite direction. He'd holstered the shotgun and was taking pot shots over his shoulder with a semi-automatic, steadying drawing the enraged Supermutant away from her position. She dropped back down to reload the pistol, and when she crawled out from behind the sedan a terrifying sight reached her eyes.

MacCready was no longer running, but standing in the middle of the street, arms out and teeth bared in a mirthless grin.

Was he... planning on sacrificing himself for her? That didn't seem like a typical MacCready move, yet there he was, standing still even as the mutant steadily gained on him.

Oh_ hell no._

She holstered her gun and broke into a sprint, her mind working overtime. Supermutants may be big but they weren't fast, and she was already catching up with it even as she dodged rubble and hurdled over cars. If she was lucky, she might be able to incapacitate the mutant. If she wasn't, MacCready was far enough away that he wouldn't be caught in the blast.

She unsheathed a machete as she ran, adrenaline giving her the boost she needed to launch herself onto the hood of the nearest truck and jump her way across a long line of sedans. She could see in her minds eye the perfect intercept course, and picked up her speed.

"Nora, don't!"

_Too late. _She thought, and with a flying leap she mounted the mutant's back.

It roared, and with deft movements she slit its throat. It gurgled as it fell to its knees, and by some miracle it managed not to fall on the explosive. She quickly dismounted and with a swing, swiftly removed it's head from it's shoulders.

She blinked as blood gushed over her shoes and across the ground.

"Don't move!"

Even with her blood pounding and adrenaline pumping, she heard the fear laced between his words. She stood dumbly in front of the mutant's hulking corpse as he strode forward and knelt down only a few feet in front of her, gingerly uncovering a mine.

He took a moment to deactivate it before glaring at her. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about saving your ass!" She retorted, wiping at the specs of blood that had splashed onto her face and hoping that the movement would still the sudden shaking in her hands. One more step forward and she would have lost a leg, or worse...

"I had everything under control."

"Well it didn't look like it from where I was standing!"

"What did you think I was doing? Sacrificing myself?"

"Maybe, I don't know! I didn't have a lot of time to think about it!"

"What good am I to you if I'm dead?"

"It would have been a noble gesture!"

"Since when have I ever been noble?"

"Hell I don't know! But if this is your idea of thanking me, maybe next time I won't bother to save your sorry ass!"

They glared at each other, faces only a few inches apart.

"It's not your job to play the hero." He growled. "You've got a lot of folks relying on you back home, and you hired me to watch your back. I can't watch it if I'm dead, so don't you dare do anything that stupid again, alright? I mean it!"

"I'd like to see you try and stop me."

His eyes sparked. "Is that a challenge?"

"Consider it an invitation."

He stared at her a moment before his mouth twitched. "You're a real smart ass, you know that?"

"I learned from the best." She winked, and grabbed his coat collar.

His face registered surprise as she pulled him in for a kiss, but enthusiasm soon took its place. He wrapped both arms around her waist and held her close, and they didn't break for air until some minutes later, breathless and somewhat disheveled.

"You're one helluvah woman, you know that boss?"

"Damn straight." She smirked.

he looked troubled. "I know I don't exactly have a great track record for er... you know, only having eyes for one girl."

Her eyebrow rose.

"But I hope you know that I'm in this for good. What I feel for you... well, I can't even begin to explain it."

"i believe you." She wiped at some blood that had smeared across his forehead, his eyes closing at her touch. "But I also want you to know that if you suddenly decide to change your mind..."

"I'll hear the click of your receiver, I know."

"Well I wouldn't go so far as to kill you, but I wouldn't be above a good pistol whipping."

"I love it when you talk nasty."

She giggled as he planted kiss on her neck, and slowly worked his way back towards her mouth.

"What I wouldn't give for a camera right now."

The two adults separated so fast, Piper almost laughed.

"Oh, hey Piper. What's the news?"

Piper's eyebrows arched. "Oh nothing much. I just heard a ruckus from camp and thought I'd come and investigate, but it seems like the two of you have it handled."

"Yep, uh-huh, crisis averted, as you can see."

Nora jabbed a thumb at the headless mutant and tried not to catch eyes with MacCready, who had stooped to pick up his hat from the dirt.

Piper pulled a pencil from behind her ear and flipped open her notebook. "Tell me Blue, would you consider making out in front of a corpse covered in blood a romantic gesture? I may just be able to work that angle into the headline of my new article: _'The Savior's Wasteland Love'."_

"You wouldn't dare."

"Journalism never sleeps, and hey, you chose a very public place to start necking."

MacCready cleared his throat. "Hey boss, you still have that roll of duct tape, right?"

"Absolutely."

"Hey now, there's no need for threats." Piper hastened to snap her notebook shut as Nora reached into her bag. "You guys can feel free to kiss wherever you like. Even though I'm well within my rights to write about it, I'll let this one slide."

"That's really big of you Piper." Nora grinned. "And speaking of rights, I don't know about you Robert but I think we deserve to celebrate not dying today."

"I absolutely agree!" His eyes held a mischievous glint as he grabbed Nora's hand and began to tug her down the street. "Why don't you head on back to camp Ms. Wright, and don't bother to wait up. We probably won't make it back in time for dinner."

Piper folded her arms and watched the couple make it almost to the end of the street before they were back in each other's arms. When they didn't immediately break apart, she smiled to herself. "Guess you won the bet Mac."

After thinking for a moment, she opened her notebook and began to scribble.

"_From my experience, wasteland love means daring to live and laugh in the face of danger._ _It may seem crazy, but it's worth it in the end if you choose the right person to defy the odds with. And in this case, s__omehow th__e skeptic made the romantic a believer.__"_


End file.
